Windows 7: NTLDR missing

Hello,

After trying to install the Windows 8 preview yesterday (I wanted to install it on an external HDD and found this site that explained how Install and Boot Windows 8 (CP) from a External Hard Disk | Manas Patnaik)
it said "NTLDR missing" when I tried to boot my computer.



How can I solve this problem (preferably without installing Windows 7 all over again).
I do have recovery disks but they are from ASUS and if I insert the disk the only option is to reinstall everything and therefor lose all my data.
I've also tried pressing F8 right after booting but nothing happens when I do that (tried tapping, holding it,... nothing works).

Thanks in advance for the help

Did you install it in a VHD on external? Or just in a partition on external disk?
Is external disk a esata disk or just an usb disk?

Try to boot without external disk attached to system. Do you see the win8 boot menu? Any errors?

I did exactly what the site said so I created a VHD and installed it on the VHD.
It's a USB disk.

I tried rebooting without the external HDD and it said "Reboot and select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"

So you can't boot without the external attached. Did you change boot device order in bios? So is internal disk still in the boot devices list?

Does internal disk contain Windows 7? Does internal disk contain a "system reserved" partition (I you know that)

In tutorial you followed are some actions to check.

Did you see the win8 entry there?
After reboot it booted to win8 entry and actually did the install?

Correct: If I boot WITH external it says "NTLDR missing"
If I boot WITHOUT external it says "Reboot and select ..."

In BIOS it says:
"Boot option #1 Windows Boot Manager (P0: WDC WD5000BPVT-80HXZT3)"
"Boot option #2 MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8B0"

The internal disk contains Windows 7 and I didn't change anything on the internal disk except I did: "bcdboot.exe W:\Windows" in cmd. (W: being the VHD I created with Win8 on it).

I don't know what system reserved partition means but if i remember correctly there was:
- an EFI partition (about 200 mb)
- A C:\ partition with Windows 7 on it
- A D:\ partition with my files and stuff
- A recovery partition

Steps to do:
-detach external disk from system
-boot from Windows 7 repair disk or install dvd and System Recovery Options option two.
-perform a Startup Repair there

Be sure the correct partition is active on internal disk. Does it find and fix any problems? click on "view diagnostic and repair details" what did it fix? Status 0x0 means "no problem"

"Boot option #1 Windows Boot Manager (P0: WDC WD5000BPVT-80HXZT3)"
"Boot option #2 MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8B0"=>that's the DVD!!

So only 2 active boot devices in bios. Second one is DVD.
What I think:

• With external attached it uses external as boot device! An old usb disk formatted in winxp... so NTLDR bootsector. But no NTLDR ... because winxp was never on it
• Without external attached it tries to boot from internal.

He can't find internal disk anymore. Or it has no active partition

Have you tried using Partition Wizard (free) to sort your boot issues. I have run into the missing NTDLR issue on several occasions and found PW the easiest way to repair the Master Boot Record. By far.

WDC WD5000BPVT-80HXZT3 is your internal disk?
Information about the WDC WD5000BPVT-80HXZT3 model of hard drives having the 01.01A01 firmware